Thomas Kioko

Thomas Kioko

Category

Raspberry Pi

If you clicked on the link you must be one hungry human. 😀 We are going to bake some mouth watering Pi …Oooh This Pi is not for the stomach, it’s for the brain. hahaha :-D. If you are interested lets start baking.

Baking Pi 101: Getting Started

Computers have become a basic need in our lives. They are becoming affordable and accessible. Other beings will disagree with me and argue that Mobile Phones are becoming more accessible than Computers, which is totally true. With your phone (Smartphone), you can do the basic tasks you would do on your computer; Create documents, emailing. Even though this is true, Mobile phones will not replace computers. 🙂

Back to computers. What if I told you you could get a computer for $35 – $40. Yes, you heard me. For only $35 – $40. And it gets better. This computer is pretty small. It can actually fit in your pocket :-). You can even make a robot using that computer and I have barely scratched the surface with what you can do with it.

I know what you are about to say, “Are you out of your mind? You must be one crazy guy.” There is only one way to find out if I am actually crazy. Join me along this journey and you will see how wrong you are. If you are not a DIY (Do-It-Yourself) human you will have a hard time but if you are up for the challenge, you will definitely have a good time. 🙂

So let’s get this hack party started. 😀

Meet Raspberry PI

The Raspberry Pi is an awesome little computer the size of a credit card, yet has enough juice or power to use it as home media center, a VPN (Virtual Private Network), and a lot lot more. The possibilities are endless it’s up to you and your creativity. You will however need to configure it and install an operating system or customise it to suit your needs. There are enough tutorials out there to help you do that. 🙂

More About Raspberry Pi

The Raspberry PI is a very powerful computer for a gadget it’s size. For about $35-$40, you get a caseless computer with a HDMI and an Analog composite video output. You get two USB ports that you can add two USB Devices which in most cases is a Mouse and a Keyboard. Alternatively you can get yourself a USB Hub and you can add more devices. It gets even better. You can connect it to the internet via wired ethernet. Yes you can access internet. This makes the Raspberry Pi is powerful and inexpensive computer.

With that said, all you need is a little setup and some other parts and you are good to go.

What You’ll Need:

Here are some of the basic parts you will need to get started:

A Raspberry Pi: If you’re not sure where to buy one i will point you out to AdaFruit my personal favorite shop.

An HDMI- or composite video-capable television or monitor: In this post we’ll be working with an HDMI-capable monitor because it offers better resolution and built-in sound. You can use analog if you want, however.

An HDMI or composite video cable: You’ll need this cable to connect your Raspberry Pi to your television or monitor.

A HDMI to VGA Cable Adapter: If you are connecting to a monitor with only VGA Support, you might need a HDMI to VGA cable Adapter.

A 4GB Class 4 SD card (or better) and a card reader

A USB keyboard and mouse: Any standard USB keyboard or mouse will do.

An ethernet cable: Any standard ethernet cable will do. You only need this to connect to your network and the internet, however, so you can leave this item out if desired.P

A good quality, micro USB power supply that can provide at least
700mA at 5V: Most modern smartphone chargers supply 700mA at 5V, but not all do. Check the bottom of your charger and look for a block of text. You’ll see its output values in that text which may read 0.7A instead of 700mA).

A 3.5mm stereo audio cable: You only need this if you’re using analog video and want to connect your Raspberry Pi to a set of external speakers or internal ones on your television or monitor.

There are two types of Raspberry Pi. The image below will give you a brief of which one to get. You can find more info on the difference between Raspberry Pi Model A & B from Element14.

In the next post I will show you how to turn make your Raspberry Pi be a Linux Computer or you can beat me to it. There are tones of great tutorials that will help you set up. It only takes about 30 mins. So what are you waiting for??

That’s all for today folks. I have to go save the world. This super hero business can be tough at times but grandma always says, “With great power comes great responsibility.” 😀